Apple Finally Releases a PDA

[MacBytes]

http://www.macbytes.com/images/bytessig.gif (http://www.macbytes.com)

Category: Opinion/Interviews
Link: Apple Finally Releases a PDA (http://www.macbytes.com/link.php?sid=20070906200856)
Description:: It may have been lost on some, but Apple’s release of the iPod Touch brings a close to one of the longest running rumors in Apple’s history… the return of Newton.



Posted on MacBytes.com (http://www.macbytes.com)
Approved by arn

[jayducharme]

That's actually what I've been holding out for: a really good PDA, which is more useful for me than a phone. I've got a Palm Z22, which is pretty decent for its price and it interfaces well with my Mac. (And it has a pretty remarkable, if small, touch screen!) But it would be simpler just to work with iCal and iPhoto to transfer stuff to a PDA, rather than to have separate calendars and image folders to muck around with.

If I knew that Belkin or Griffin were making a stereo mic attachment for the iPod Touch (obviously, only if the iPod had a recording mode), I'd buy it immediately. Then not only could I make audio notes to transcribe later, I could do some simple two-track recording out in the field (one of my hobbies).

[zap2]

I'd hardly call it a PDA...no notes app, not mail app.....its an iPod...with internet!

[rtdgoldfish]

Isn't the iPhone closer to a PDA than the iPod Touch?? Oh wait, he said that in the article.

Oh, its Arns blog, lol!

[dsnort]

I have a Newton, and neither the iPhone or iPod-Touch are as far ahead of the curve as the Newton was at release.

[IJ Reilly]

I'd hardly call it a PDA...no notes app, not mail app.....its an iPod...with internet!

Not every PDA does e-mail. I never use mine for notes, and I wonder how many people do. Calendar and contacts in my pocket -- that's what I need. For that purpose, and a whole lot more, the iPod Touch beats my Palm cold.

[CalBoy]

Not every PDA does e-mail. I never use mine for notes, and I wonder how many people do. Calendar and contacts in my pocket -- that's what I need. For that purpose, and a whole lot more, the iPod Touch beats my Palm cold.

Except that it has a great deal of surface area. For a personal information holder, it could be a lot smaller no? I would get one if it was a little less wide and a only slightly shorter.

[Evangelion]

I'd hardly call it a PDA...no notes app, not mail app.....its an iPod...with internet!

You are so close, yet you missed the mark. It does have notes-app. And it does have email. And it has internet. The latter third enables the former two ;).

[srobert]

You are so close, yet you missed the mark. It does have notes-app. And it does have email. And it has internet. The latter third enables the former two ;).

It does have notes… except when you're in the subway… or in your car… or in the bus… taxi… street… :D

[ghall]

I always considered the iPhone as the "return of the Newton", though I've never even seen a Newton in person, so who am I to judge. The iPod touch is just an iPod with a touch screen, and internet. The iPhone is much closer to a PDA than the touch.

[jsw]

I always considered the iPhone as the "return of the Newton", though I've never even seen a Newton in person, so who am I to judge. The iPod touch is just an iPod with a touch screen, and internet. The iPhone is much closer to a PDA than the touch.
Actually, the touch is just an iPhone minus the camera and cellular bits. All iPhone apps will run on a touch (and will surely be ported 12 minutes after someone gets a touch). So the touch is pretty much just as much of a PDA as the iPhone. :)

[Devil's Refugee]

Stick a VoIP client on the Touch and you have the iPhone without AT&T !

[Sdashiki]

Stick a VoIP client on the Touch and you have the iPhone without AT&T !

too bad there's no mic, its a one way conversation

[IJ Reilly]

Except that it has a great deal of surface area. For a personal information holder, it could be a lot smaller no? I would get one if it was a little less wide and a only slightly shorter.

Maybe -- I haven't actually seen one yet. :)

One thing I do know, my Palm Tungsten isn't exactly svelte, and the interface stinks.

I always considered the iPhone as the "return of the Newton", though I've never even seen a Newton in person, so who am I to judge. The iPod touch is just an iPod with a touch screen, and internet. The iPhone is much closer to a PDA than the touch.

The Newton really was a completely different product. The only similarity is that they can both be called hand-held computers.

Stick a VoIP client on the Touch and you have the iPhone without AT&T !

It's got a mic?

[Floris]

I agree, it no longer is just a music player, it's a media device. With safari and media options, I think it's getting closer to a pda, but .. I don't agree saying it is a pda. mail and other obvious office required applications are missing. I think they could have made this more corporate for $75 more and sell twice as much. Ok, this is just the first one. So perhaps next year we will see some interesting developments on top of these technologies.

[IJ Reilly]

I agree, it no longer is just a music player, it's a media device. With safari and media options, I think it's getting closer to a pda, but .. I don't agree saying it is a pda. mail and other obvious office required applications are missing. I think they could have made this more corporate for $75 more and sell twice as much. Ok, this is just the first one. So perhaps next year we will see some interesting developments on top of these technologies.

By your definition, the Palm Tungsten isn't a PDA. No mail, they can't browse the internet without a cell phone (and not very well then), and very cramped RAM compared to the Touch. The only obviously "missing" application is a note taker. Even assuming this is a deal-breaker for some people (not me), we'll see how long that lasts.

BTW, the Palm Tungsten costs $200.

[GavinTing]

The Touch doesn't have... Internet access, just Wifi.. Who needs a PDA where there is wifi? o.O

I think the iPhone is closer to a PDA, so why does the article say the touch is closer :eek:

[mrgreen4242]

If Apple would have stuck a BT chip in there and released a API/plugin/extension/update/whatever for XCode to let developers release apps for the iPhone/Touch I would have bought one pretty quickly - I might have even downgraded my pending iMac purchase from the 2.4ghz to the 2.0ghz to be able to afford it.

With BT you have the option of getting a mic (and wireless headset) set up for VoIP use, plus you could tether it to your cell for internet access on the road. You could have used it for access the internet via your Mac without having WiFi available as well (which is a more limited use, but still something I think many people who use wired ether net would have appreciated as it's simpler and more secure than configuring your Mac to share the internet via an Airport card).

A simple way for developers, both commercial and opensource/hobbyist, to create applications would make both of these devices real PDAs. Examples of applications that would make me run out and buy an iPod Touch right now:

* An email client, contact book, and notes application that syncs with my <Google Contacts, Address Book, etc> whenever it gets online, letting me input new contacts on the go, or at the computer and have them update one another automagically all the time. Email wouldn't even have to store ALL my mail, just unread or specially flagged messages. Storing replies until it was able to send them out when I came in range of a WiFi connection
* AirTunes remote control.
* VoIP (would obviously require a mic or at least BT w/ a headset)

There's probably a dozen other killer apps that would make the iPhone/Touch must have PDA devices, but as it is, I'm impressed by them but not enough to buy. I'm wondering Apple is working with select 3rd parties as well as internal dev teams to create add-on applications that they would sell via the iTMS like they do with games for the iPod video? That would make sense, and if so, wonder if they will make all applications available for the iPhone AND the Touch, or artificially limit certain things to one platform or the other...

[CalBoy]

Maybe -- I haven't actually seen one yet. :)

Me neither, but judging from the picture on Apple's page, it looks very similar in size to the iPhone, which I thought was just a tad bit too large. Who knows, maybe this "iPod" is the perfect size. Either way, do I really need to be spending more money at this time? Probably not:eek::)

[nagromme]

I'd hardly call it a PDA...no notes app, not mail app.....its an iPod...with internet!

It's a PDA just barely: very good at certain PDA things (contacts, all-around ease-of-use), and severely limited in other ways. But, at the same time, it's VERY good at some useful things outside the PDA realm--like Web browsing, video, photos, music, and mass storage for the above.

So depending on a person's needs, this could indeed be the ULTIMATE PDA. With massive screen, no stylus to lose, and 8mm thick :)

(Note that MY PDA is an old 4G iPod! It doesn't do all that I want, but it does what I NEED: stores my contacts, calendars, maps, and some useful notes like train sechedules--which I'd store as images instead if I had an iPod Touch. It's a "read-only" PDA in essence--but that's pretty useful, since I VIEW contacts a whole lot more often than I add new ones. I use it copnstantly for the same things I would use a PDA for. And only occasionally for music!)

[IJ Reilly]

So depending on a person's needs, this could indeed be the ULTIMATE PDA. With massive screen, no stylus to lose, and 8mm thick :)

I'm going to reserve judgement until I actually get one in my hands, but my first reaction is it's almost precisely what I need, and far more functional for $300 than my Palm is for $200.

[stuff99]

it has contacts and a calender and it can surf the net, view vids pics and listen to mp3s...its a pda

[Loge]

It's got a mic?

The third party mics you can attach to the old iPods will work with the iPod touch maybe? Or if not there will soon be some that will?